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Achari Karela Sabzi

Achari Karela sabzi is stir fried Karela (bitter melon) with the tangy acahari masala ( pickling spices). I always thought Karela is not a veggie that most of people like, but after an interaction and so many reactions on social media and learning ways of cooking with the bitter Karela, I feel there are many like me who absolutely love it. Believe me, once you learn how to remove excess bitterness from karela it really tastes good. 
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Cuisine: Indian
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours 25 minutes
Servings: 4 portion
Author: Rekha Kakkar

Ingredients

  • 200 g potato
  • 100 g tomato
  • 1 - 2 tbsps mango pickle of (optional)
  • to taste salt
  • 1 teaspoon Red chilli powder
  • ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 2 tbsps Mustard Oil / Sarson ka tel
  • ½ teaspoon Fennel Seeds Saunf /
  • teaspoon Cumin Seeds zeera seeds /
  • teaspoon Mustard Seeds seeds / sarson
  • ¼ teaspoon Fenugreek Seeds methi /
  • ¼ teaspoon Onion seeds / kalonji seeds nigella

Instructions

  • To prepare the achari karela first of all you need to prepare bitter karela to remove the bitterness.
  • Wash and peel the karela, if you want you can keep the peel and make a stir fry of that too later ( I will be posting the recipe of that too)
  • After peeling the karela, cut them in half, if you feel seeds are too ripe and hard just discard them. Now put about a teaspoon of salt over it and keep it in sun for 1-2 hours.
  • After that just wash the karela and pat dry with kitchen napkin before proceeding to cook the achari karela aloo.
  • Peel the potatoes and cut them into thick roundels.
  • If you still feel that karela is too bitter, after salting them you can place them in boiling water which will further reduce the bitterness of the karela.
  • Now heat up the mustard oil in a kadahi or wok and add all the seeds, let the seeds start to sizzle, and then add cut potato in the wok, also add cut bitter melon/ karela.
  • Cover and cook them for next 6-7 minutes on medium slow heat. Now remove the lid and lower the heat to slow and let the bittermelons and potato become crisp from all sides.
  • Finally add chopped tomato, chopped mango pickle (if you are using) and cook everything for 4-5 minutes on medium heat. Stir it in between.
  • Achari karela will be ready then. It tastes best with chapati or paratha.

Notes

NOTES
Though it looks like a long process, cooking karela is an easy recipe. you are required to pre prep before cooking but it really does not require much of your active cooking time.
Even while cooking you can pretty much let it become crisp on slow heat while you can tend to other kitchen chores or even out of kitchen ones too.